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Color alone does not indicate that a pumpkin is ready to be harvested. Wait until the outer shell hardens before picking. Use your thumbnail to test; it should dent but not puncture the pumpkin skin. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)
New season starts with dry, windy conditions
Fall begins with a last gasp of summer heat.
Conditions this week represent high fire danger for Northern California, according to the National Weather Service. Monday, the first official day of fall, will see winds blowing 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30. Combined with extremely low humidity and warm temperatures, those winds could rapidly spread wildfires.
It’s a reminder to clean up dried grasses, pine needles and other fodder for wildfire. But be careful: Don’t create sparks with your tools or machinery.
After some hot days this week, weather will rapidly cool down in the weeks to come. Get your garden into autumn mode:
* Keep an eye on pumpkins and winter squash. If possible, elevate the ripening fruit or put something underneath them to avoid rot on the bottom. They’re ready to pick when the skin is fully colored and starting to harden; when pressed with your thumbnail, the skin will dent but not puncture. Another sign they’re ready for harvest: The stem will dry out.
* Cultivate and add compost to the soil to replenish its nutrients for fall and winter vegetables and flowers.
* Fertilize deciduous fruit trees.
* Plant onions, lettuce, peas, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, bok choy, spinach and potatoes directly into the vegetable beds.
* Transplant cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and lettuce seedlings.
* Sow seeds of California poppies, clarkia and African daisies.
* Transplant pansies, violas, fairy primroses, calendulas, stocks, snapdragons and other cool-season flowers.
* Late September is ideal for sowing a new lawn or re-seeding bare spots.
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Garden Checklist for week of May 5
Survey your garden after the May 4 rainstorm. Heavy rain and gusty winds can break the neck of large flowers such as roses. Also:
* Keep an eye on new transplants or seedlings; they could take a pounding from the rain.
* Watch out for powdery mildew. Warmth following moist conditions can cause this fungal disease to “bloom,” too. If you see a leaf that looks like it’s dusted with powdered sugar, snip it off.
* After the storm, start setting out tomato transplants, but wait on the peppers and eggplants (they want warmer nights). Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Don’t wait; plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.
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